With much praise of Taiwan in international media as a “democracy” which has successfully found means to fight off the COVID-19 pandemic, as contrasted to China or western countries, it might be worth casting a critical eye on what this means...
Anger has broken out in Hong Kong after pro-democracy lawmaker Au Nok-hin was convicted of “assault” for using a loudspeaker near police officers during a protest that took place last year in July. The conviction was announced on Monday...
Three recent legal cases involving corruption from members of the KMT illustrate how the party has failed to confront its internal corruption. This occurs in spite of public vows by the party to reform, with the stated goals of reform being to win back young people who have been alienated by the party’s pro-China image...
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stoked controversy earlier today with comments accusing the Taiwanese government of launching an organized campaign against him in the course of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. According to Tedros, Taiwan was politicizing the coronavirus pandemic to attack the WHO when the world needs to unite in combating the disease. What has raised eyebrows in particular, however, was Tedros accusing the Taiwanese government of “racism” against Africans in this purported campaign against him...
The Kaohsiung City Election Commission announced yesterday that a petition to recall Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu has cleared the second stage needed for the recall vote to be held...
Taiwanese human rights groups have been critical of the Tsai administration after it executed Weng Jen-hsien, 53, by firing squad on April 1st. This would be the second execution that has taken place under the Tsai administration to date. 39 individuals are currently on death row in Taiwan...
The Central Epidemic Command Center announced an increase of ten COVID-19 cases today, bringing Taiwan’s total number of COVID-19 cases to 373. Of these ten cases, nine were imported, while one was a case of domestic transmission...
Demonstrators in Hong Kong gathered on Tuesday to commemorate the seven month anniversary of police attacks on protesters in the Prince Edward MTR station on August 31st of last year. However, 54 participants in the commemoration were arrested by the Hong Kong police...
Brian Hioe is one of the founding editors of New Bloom. He is a freelance journalist, as well as a translator. A New York native and Taiwanese-American, he has an MA in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University and graduated from New York University with majors in History, East Asian Studies, and English Literature. He was Democracy and Human Rights Service Fellow at the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy from 2017 to 2018 and is currently a Non-Resident Fellow at the University of Nottingham's Taiwan Studies Programme.
